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Recent things
Evil Weapon's Self-Cultivation, Bees in Space, and more!
Recent reading: Evil Weapon's Self-Cultivation by Cyan Wings. I've enjoyed everything else by Cyan Wings! I didn't much enjoy this. It is about a sword that has cultivated a human form (while still being very much a sword) and this is something guaranteed to appeal to me ... except this sword, Yan Changge, falls into that infuriating category of protagonists who can do no wrong ever, who exist to show the world how awesome they are. Side characters basically exist only to be "put in their place" and realize how awesome the MC is. It got boring so fast. Also, you'd think that being a thousands-of-years-old sword who was used to kill countless people so much that you can't help giving off an aura of evil qi would be like ... cause for some delicious internal conflict? Cyan Wings says nah. It becomes a logistical problem to solve, but nothing more. I couldn't help make a comparison to the same author's They All Say I've Met a Ghost, which also features a pretty op, idealistic protagonist, but that worked there because Shen Jianguo was actually wrong about a lot of things, and also didn't actually realize how op he was. Here, Yan Changge is not wrong. About anything.
The romance was ... well, I will admit I got a kick out of all the sword/scabbard jokes. That, and the fact that the ML was all in re. swordfucking once he learned his bf was a sword, was the best part of the novel. Except that, after they became an established couple, the side characters who weren't there to be put in their place by MC's ultra high level martial arts now seemed to have the sole purpose of being there to observe the main couple's PDA, which invoked much of the same feeling in me as a reader, which I guess basically amounts to "Cyan Wings' kink is not my kink and (sigh) I guess that's ok." PLUS this novel was very pro-cop and pro-government and I get that it's not my cops and not my government but I just. I don't want to read that right now.
Well! That turned into a rant. It's worse when it's an author you've enjoyed before.
Recent crafting:
BEES IN SPACE! I found this fabric half off at Joanns (rip) and got it for my six-year-old, who loves cute bees. I offered to make it into whatever he wanted but he just wanted it as a blanket! So I gave it a border (using up some fabric that was going to be curtains once upon a time, when we lived in a different apartment where the yellow coordinated) and now it's done. A quick project.
Other stuff: I started using the "todoist" app maybe not exactly as intended? It's got all this stuff about setting goals and measuring productivity and "karma" (I have not figured out what karma is in this context) but I am basically just using it for being able to set recurring tasks. I don't want to gamify my productivity I just want convenient reminders, and (so long as I remember to look at it) it's working for that! (the other reminder app I like is "floating notes" which lets you put sticky notes on your phone that sit on top of everything else. But that's not ideal for long to-do lists, for obvious reasons.
I wanted to get some cork fabric from Joanns before they closed, because I think it looks neat and I'd like to at least cover a book with it someday. However, Joanns now has a two yard minimum. Well, it was a utility fabric, so it was a three yard minimum. But there was a shorter piece so I ended up with 2 3/8 yards of cork fabric. That is more than one needs to cover a book! And I don't even know what book I want to use it for.
I made a cheesecake last week for my birthday! I pretty much only make cheesecake for my birthday but ... maybe I should do it more often. Cheesecake is delicious.
And speaking of birthday, my dad sent me some delicious tea from Floating Leaves, a new-to-me shop that specializes in Taiwanese oolongs. I also tried to order one of my favorite flavored teas, but it seems that (despite taking my money) that shop may not actually exist anymore. So if anyone can recommend another jasmine-and-rose flavored tea, I'll be forever grateful!
The romance was ... well, I will admit I got a kick out of all the sword/scabbard jokes. That, and the fact that the ML was all in re. swordfucking once he learned his bf was a sword, was the best part of the novel. Except that, after they became an established couple, the side characters who weren't there to be put in their place by MC's ultra high level martial arts now seemed to have the sole purpose of being there to observe the main couple's PDA, which invoked much of the same feeling in me as a reader, which I guess basically amounts to "Cyan Wings' kink is not my kink and (sigh) I guess that's ok." PLUS this novel was very pro-cop and pro-government and I get that it's not my cops and not my government but I just. I don't want to read that right now.
Well! That turned into a rant. It's worse when it's an author you've enjoyed before.
Recent crafting:
BEES IN SPACE! I found this fabric half off at Joanns (rip) and got it for my six-year-old, who loves cute bees. I offered to make it into whatever he wanted but he just wanted it as a blanket! So I gave it a border (using up some fabric that was going to be curtains once upon a time, when we lived in a different apartment where the yellow coordinated) and now it's done. A quick project.
Other stuff: I started using the "todoist" app maybe not exactly as intended? It's got all this stuff about setting goals and measuring productivity and "karma" (I have not figured out what karma is in this context) but I am basically just using it for being able to set recurring tasks. I don't want to gamify my productivity I just want convenient reminders, and (so long as I remember to look at it) it's working for that! (the other reminder app I like is "floating notes" which lets you put sticky notes on your phone that sit on top of everything else. But that's not ideal for long to-do lists, for obvious reasons.
I wanted to get some cork fabric from Joanns before they closed, because I think it looks neat and I'd like to at least cover a book with it someday. However, Joanns now has a two yard minimum. Well, it was a utility fabric, so it was a three yard minimum. But there was a shorter piece so I ended up with 2 3/8 yards of cork fabric. That is more than one needs to cover a book! And I don't even know what book I want to use it for.
I made a cheesecake last week for my birthday! I pretty much only make cheesecake for my birthday but ... maybe I should do it more often. Cheesecake is delicious.
And speaking of birthday, my dad sent me some delicious tea from Floating Leaves, a new-to-me shop that specializes in Taiwanese oolongs. I also tried to order one of my favorite flavored teas, but it seems that (despite taking my money) that shop may not actually exist anymore. So if anyone can recommend another jasmine-and-rose flavored tea, I'll be forever grateful!